Google soon confirmed that the update was not Penguin. The core update in fact shared more qualities with a Panda update, which – since it has recently been incorporated into the core search algorithm – seems much more likely.

It is rare that Google confirm updates of this kind, with the last one being in May 2015. The confirmation acts as a sign of the core algorithm update’s significance, with the noticeable changes warranting an explanation.

Penguin 4.0, which is expected to be enforced in real-time, is projected to arrive this year.

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